Newtown

Published 1:00 am, Saturday, December 13, 2008

The $38.8 million Newtown High School expansion project is going out to bid again, not what was expected when voters approved the project in April.

But the
Board of Education
had no other choice. The first bids in July were $6 million over the approved $38.8 million budget. In October, the voters rejected an additional $6 million for the project. So work has to move forward under the $38.8 million.

The rejection of the additional $6 million was not a change in attitude in Newtown toward education. The rejection reflected the state of the economy -- along with some concern that the project was not being well managed. The decision to go to bid again provides a fresh start.

Morganti Group, the construction manager, has divided the project into 30 packages, up from 12. That should attract more bids, allowing smaller companies to bid for the work they can handle.

In addition, "value management" changes in the project and moving some parts of the project to the alternate list, have reduced the $6 million shortfall to $2.5 million. Better, although still a significant amount.

When "value" is used to describe changes in over-budget projects, it doesn't always mean you get "value." Often it means you get cheaper and not better. Decisions have to be made carefully. The board was right to reject a proposal to save $600,000 by cutting an interior bridge to the new addition and a staircase. That's a question of safety.

By rebidding the project, the town will get numbers that reflect today's economy. If the bids are still high, other difficult decisions will have to be made, but they will be made based on more reliable bids.

As school board member
Lillian Bittman
said, "No one truly believes the numbers we got in July are true."

Newtown has been discussing the need for this expansion project for years. The school is overcrowded. It does not meet the needs of today -- and certainly not future needs.

With good planning and some luck, work can begin in the spring on this necessary project.